Accuracy of computed tomography in diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate accuracy of Computed Tomography (CT) for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions (SPLs). METHODS A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from 20-01-2007 to 30-06-2008 at the Radiology department, Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) Karachi. Fifty-three patients with solitary pulmonary lesions (SPLs) seen in prior chest x-rays or chest CT scans were referred to radiology department for CT guided biopsy. CT scan was performed for each patient prior to biopsy and CT evaluation of the SPLs was performed followed by CT guided Biopsy. Histopathological diagnosis of the lesion was taken as the gold standard. RESULTS CT was found to be 100% sensitive, 30% specific and 87% accurate for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions while PPV and NPV were 86% and 100% respectively. CONCLUSION CT scan is highly sensitive yet non-specific and cannot be used as the definitive diagnostic modality for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions.